Portkey in GOF - Logistics

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 149711

Amiable Dorsai wrote:
<snip> 
> A common criminal, a Wormtail, maybe, would sneak Harry out of the
> castle behind everyone's back.  *Lord Voldemort*, bold as brass,
> snatches Harry while Dumbledore and half the Ministry are watching.
> 
> Think of the message this sends to his enemies: "I can get anybody,
> anywhere.  The Ministry can't stop me, Dumbledore can't save you. 
> Capitulate now, while you still can."
> 
> I'll bet Act 2 would have had a Death Eater Portkey back to Hogwarts
> with Harry's corpse, fire a Dark Mark into the sky, and Portkey back
> out, leaving Harry's lifeless body behind. Imagine the propaganda value.
> 
> On the other end, an ordinary murderer would use Harry's blood, then
> kill him while he was still tied down, but that doesn't do much to
> re-establish Lord Voldemort in his follower's (disciple's?) minds. 
> Dueling Harry, and effortlessly converting him to the Boy Who
Snuffed It, while the Death Eaters watch, that's the way to get back
that old mystique.
> 
> Pity it didn't go according to script.


Carol responds:
I agree that Voldemort wants drama, but that's not the only reason
that he and Crouch!Moody (who also likes drama, IMO) arrange this
complicated plan.

As I said in an earlier post, 149551,

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HPforGrownups/message/149551

the portkey can't just be casually presented to Harry so that he'll go
zooming to wherever Voldemort is at the time. Voldemort has to know
exactly when and where Harry will appear--in the graveyard, where his
father's bones lie, when the heavy cauldron is in place and the potion
is prepared. All of the ingredients--bone of the father, flesh of the
servant, blood of the enemy--must be at hand, along with the
preliminary potion to which the key ingredients are added. And *then*
the drama comes into play: Harry snatched from under the eyes of all
those spectators; resurrected!Voldemort appearing to his followers and
defeating the Boy Who Lived once and for all under their eyes. But
that, too, requires specific timing and a specific place, the site of
his resurrection and the desecration of his father's grave. 

Even if Crouch!Moody could have managed to enchant some other object
as a portkey, give it to Harry in his office, and send Harry to the
Riddle House or wherever Voldie was at the time, Voldie would have had
to keep Harry around as a captive until the huge, heavy cauldron was
in the graveyard and the potion was ready, which may have been a
time-consuming process. If Veritaserum takes a full-moon cycle to
prepare (OoP) and polyjuice potion takes about a month to prepare
(CoS), surely a potion to restore a vaporized body would take many
months. This potion is so complicated that it requires an incantation
as well as the proper ingredients--whatever was in that sparkling,
bubbling potion *before* the bone, flesh, and blood were added--and
Wormtail is in no position to run down to Diagon Alley or Knockturn
Alley to buy the other ingredients. He has to obtain them himself,
even if that means killing a unicorn.

Much better for Voldie if Crouch!Moody acts according to plan, waiting
till everything is ready for the moment of triumph. Voldie can, in
theory, kill Harry any time, but his restoration to semi-human form
must be carefully orchestrated and carefully timed. Having the TWT cup
as the portkey (and having Crouch!Moody insure that Harry wins it)
guarantees that Harry will be in the right place at the right time for
Voldie to carry out his plan. No other object would have the same effect.

Carol, noting that Barty Jr. probably got some sadistic pleasure out
of watching Harry suffer along the way to what was supposed to be a
very short-lived victory